Katharsisdrill in Iceland 4 - Midnight dinner and a talk about alfár
Some writing about my holiday in Iceland. Here are the previous posts:
Iceland - the wifi-problem
Katharsisdrill in Iceland 1 - Hot springs and a smell of boiled eggs
Katharsisdrill in Iceland 2 - Visiting Snorri Sturlason in Reykholt
Katharsisdrill in Iceland 3 - A fishing trip
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The fishing ended just before the tide, and it was well over ten o'clock when we returned. Back in the cottage some of the trouts that had been caught the previous days was in the oven seasoned with rosemary and lemon - a combination I haven't tried before. It was the men who made all the cocking - so the rest of us could just relax with a beer or some champagne. The party was also joined by a stream of extra teenagers that somehow just popped by at this remote wilderness place. I noticed how much it resembled a family gathering in Denmark.
I know that human beings all over the world are painfully alike. Most cultures create exactly the same morals, exactly the same ways to be together, to talk, to protect, to abuse and the most universal thing they create is a heightened sense of cultural differences. You find that in each and every culture I have encountered. Scandinavians are a good example. No other people on earth can see any differences in a Dane and a Swede - a Norwegian or a Finn, but we have the most well-developed stereotypes about each other.
But that said, with this heightened sensitivity that is universally human, I can say that Icelanders felt so very close to my own tribe that only the language made a difference, just like I feel with Norwegians, Finns or Swedes - and maybe also because they laughed when I choose a beer instead of champagne. The only thing that we Danes really get credit for from our Nordic brethren people is our nonchalant attitude towards alcohol.
It was a pleasant evening with so many interesting people and wonderful food that was served in the summer dusk, but we had rented a house on a mountainside on the other side of Sauðafell, so eventually we and our exhausted children said goodbye.
The house was not locked - that is not necessary is these territories, and there was four tidy beds ready. But before going to sleep I talked a bit with my wife about a discussion we had had with Guðbjörg earlier that day.
It can come as no surprise for people who have followed my Katharsisdrill profile that I am interested in mythology, folklore, ancient Gods and ancient religions, and my wife, an accomplished artist herself, has from other angles treated similar subjects in her ingenious jewellery. So we simply had to know about the famed Icelandic elves that can force road workers to change the course of the road and whose dwelling somewhere in Reykjavik has an official house number.
What Guðbjörg told us was both close to our own folkore, but also different. There are no trolls in Iceland, no Nisse, no Nøkke - only alfár, the ancient name for elves. The Icelanders call them huldufolk, hidden people, just like we do in Scandinavia, but they live exclusively in rocks - which gives them plenty of places to live in Iceland.
Like the trolls and elves and hulder in Scandinavia these people are thought to live in self-sufficient societies, more neighbours than adversaries, and Guðbjörg even know a lady who talk to them. The Icelanders do not make much fuzz about it. Alfár are just a part of the magic landscape. We didn't know at the time, but already the next day we would encounter one of them.
I can't help, but I almost saw your story in my mind's eye like a comic page of Phill ;-)
The similarities and differences of nordic tribes, as explained by Dr. Katharsis Drill.
A stream of extra teenagers that somehow just popped up like a group of alfárs.
Even the cliffhanger, that you effectively make use of in almost every page of Phill.
You're just a great støryteller ;-)
Thanks a lot , my mate :) I have practised støry for along time.
Wow! I love exciting and magical
legends of elves and huldufolk,
you are very interesting to talk about them.
Thank you!
I read it in one breath.
And I liked the photos, @katharsisdrill
I heard that even this road was built because one woman could also communicate with the elves,
this highway, which connects the Peninsula with Alftanes Gardabaer, a suburb of Reykjavik.
I hope it didn't disturb them.
It is true that they consult the people who can talk to the elves when building close to sacred stones.
If you read the next instalment that I posted today you can read about the most vivid encounter I had on the whole trip.
Thank you very much for such interesting and exciting publications, @katharsisdrill